Teens confront challenges in new novel by Sudbury writer 

What began as a pandemic pastime has turned into a literary passion. Anne-Marie Mawhiney, who first started writing to fill quiet days at home, is now celebrating the release of her third self-published novel, Fugitive Rifts. To mark the release of her novel she is hosting three intimate storytelling sessions over the next few months.

Fugitive Rifts is a coming-of-age story that begins with four teens joining a debate club. These teens are strangers to each other in the beginning and not your typical debate club kids, explained Mawhiney. That quickly changes as secrets are revealed. Then one teen disappears, changing the trajectory of all their lives. No one is the same afterward.

“I wanted to write a book where three or four characters faced enormous challenges and worked through it,” s